It was a cold night, the moon dropping from the horizon. There were no clouds and I could gaze upon the stars above, their frozen light shining all around me. The moon was at its fullest and my mind was at its weakest. I had labored all day long, working on my double shift in a construction site and a little bit extra. That's what I do. I build stuff. But no matter how hard I try everything around me keeps falling down. My wife for example.
This morning I talked to her and wondered why she was so caring, so suddenly interested in my work. Then I went to the bathroom and found that it was filled with steam. It was recent and she didn't like hot water so it couldn't have been her. I had showered everyday of the week on the baths of work. I shrugged the issue away and went to the entrance door. Bye, she had said from the bedroom. Bye, I answered and opened the door, but as I was stepping out I saw a wallet on the brown shelf at one side of the living room sofa. I reached for it and took out the ID. It read Robert Sullivan. I knew that guy. He lived just across the street and was recently divorced.
Maybe, sometime soon, I will be too.
I didn't say anything about it because it would only bring chaos. But as I stepped out a dark thought rouse in my head. Sandra had always taken a liking of Dr. Sullivan.
I went to work, as usual, putting the thought aside and focusing on the platforms. As the day wore off I started hearing her voice, her ever gracious voice and felt an urge to go home. I forgot about the wallet and my assumptions. She couldn't have...Could she? No, she couldn't. I took a cab as soon as my shift ended. I went straight home, breaking my routine of stopping at a cantina and buy a drink or two, say hi to my bros. I went straight home. I paid the taxi with a twenty and told him to keep the change. I walked to the door, but stopped myself as I was getting out the keys.
I heard voices inside the house. I heard Sandra's voice very faintly and I could tell there was someone else inside. Something was off. I dropped the keys and went to the back of the house, crouched and taking silent steps. I approached a window and gazed upon the scene inside. There seemed to be candles lit up on the brown shelf and the faint voices grew clearer. I could hear her, there was no doubt it was her. And another voice.
She didn't sound threatened, she sounded...like something else was happening. I moved to another window, the one that was just outside the living room. There were clothes lying on the floor. Laughter reached my ears.
That laughter. She promised. She promised that laughter was only mine to hear. She promised. She promised. Laughter again, but this time it wasn't hers. It was his.
I stood up straight and stared emotionless at the clothes. I don't know how long I stared or when I decided to go to his house. By the time I noticed what I was doing I had broken into Robert's home. No alarms went off. Good. I went into his living room and saw a big box of condoms lain on a wooden table.
I went to the kitchen next and grabbed something. I went to the living room again, sat on the sofa and kicked my feet up on the table, landing right next to the box of his and her treachery. And I waited. No thoughts or emotions crossed my mind, no idea of what was about to happen. Finally the front door opened.
In came Dr. Sullivan, heading straight for the lights. As he light those up, he made out the shape of a man sitting on his couch. He saw his face and sighed with relief.
Oh Rey, you scared the shit out of me, he said. You really should lock the door, you know, I said to him, lot's of bad people out there. He took off his coat like he hadn't even noticed a guy was waiting for him inside his house. What are these for? I asked, nodding towards the box. Robert half looked at the condoms and shrugged. A man's gotta be protected, he said.
He walked into his bedroom and threw his wallet and watch to the mattress. I kept my left hand hidden behind my back and showed with my right his ID card. Is this yours? I asked him. He looked at it and smiled. Yes it is, he said, thanks for finding it. He grabbed it and put it inside his wallet. What was it doing inside my house? I asked him. What were you doing in my house?
He looked at me and smiled. I had sex with your wife, of course. He put a hand on my shoulder. Don't worry, I used protection. And every emotion that was hidden was shown.
I cut his hand off with the kitchen knife and everything turned red. The blood sprayed on the carpet and on me. I pushed him to the wall and I let the knife fall. I started punching him wherever I could.
MINE! SHE IS MINE! I punched him on the face and he went down. But I didn’t stop. I kicked at him and punched even more. MINE! MINE! MINE! SHE PROMISED! MINE!
Long after he died I stopped punching him. I walked outside and went to the park near the street. Everyone in there ran away from me, either for the blood on my shirt or my maniac eyes. I sat on a bench and put my head between my knees.
I am a constructor. I should build things, not destroy them. I look up to the night and hear sirens. And as the wailing keeps getting louder and louder a single thought repeats itself. She promised.
